Memories of an Agonizing Truth
by Inyx Dawn
Summary: 1. Naruto ponders on how Sasuke obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan without killing him. 2. Naruto searches through his memories to find how Sasuke became what he did. 3. Naruto and Sasuke fight for the last time. Sasuke comes back for a reason.
1. Memories of Pure Agony

Memories of Pure Agony

_-consume even the darkest of minds-_

Summary: Naruto ponders on how Sasuke could have possibly obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan without killing him while he explores the Uchiha Compound.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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My footsteps echoed ominously through the dark Uchiha Compound. My heart fluttered slightly, and I could feel the sweat on my brow dripping down the side of my face. Adrenaline ran in my veins at such a speed that I thought my body might implode.

My best friend and first love took me here once—presumably on a whim. I didn't know better then but I like to think that I do now. What it was he was trying to tell me. Using anything but words. The agony he must have went through. Sympathy and empathy without pity are hard to come by.

Nonetheless, ten years ago, he took me through this very town like section of our village on one of our very few days off. I can remember his detached voice as he spoke, informing me of where everyone in his entire family had once lived.

This place still held onto that air of sadness. The stench of death and blood still lingered onto the streets and houses like leaches. The sun was down for the moment; however, I believe that even had it been out, its rays would still not have been strong enough to penetrate this place.

The remembrance of his Mangekyou Sharingan is the reason I'm here right now. He's had it, to the best of my knowledge, for ten years now. But, then again, I have been here for that long and some too. So how is it possible he could have it, if to obtain it, he would have had to kill his most precious person? Me, according to him.

The Valley of the End. I remember him telling me that I was his best friend. Pleasant to the ears at first. Until he cut into my heart and mind, toying with me. Because I was his best friend, he would have had to kill me. If he desired the Mangekyou as badly as he seemed to.

However, it must have been a lie. Because here I stand, still alive, and he has the Mangekyou Sharingan. I can admit that even though he has betrayed me, this village, I am jealous. I am loathe to even think it, but if to obtain the third level of Sharingan, an Uchiha must kill his/her most precious person, then he must have had someone more important to him than me

In front of me stood a house, large in comparison to all of the others, black and dull in color. His home or, at least, it had been at one point. He didn't take me inside when he pointed it out, but here I am now, walking inside his forbidden domain.

The walls are drenched in the after scent of a dark and powerful chakra. Itachi's I presume. So familiar yet not.

As I am walking down these deserted halls, I wonder what it must have been like for him to live in a house where his very family was murdered. The images of their mangled bodies must have driven him insane if the present is anything to go by.

Kyuubi stirs restlessly in the pit of my stomach, sensing something just to the right. Through the doors I saw something so very disturbing. The memory of it will be etched into my mind for the rest of my life

_Burn into obliv__ion, dear brother. My sweet, naive little brother._

_Yes, Aniki_

Blood stained the walls as did all types of sentences. Claw marks scratched through the floor, walls, ceiling, and door. All surrounding those words.

Insanity. Pure, hostel insanity seemed to have consumed him long before the mere age of twelve. And then it came to me.

At the tender age of eight, who is most important to you?

_Family_

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Thank you for reading this. I thought I'd try my hand at angst, even if it is light. Please review and tell me what you think. I'd very much appreciate any advice you may have if any.


	2. A Painful Truth

A Painful Truth

_-drives even the fiercest of people to insanity-_

Summary: Realizing the rather heart wrenching truth about Sasuke's past, Naruto searches through his memories to find how Sasuke became what he did. And how he could have been so stupid to not have figured it out so long ago.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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It all made sense now. The reason he was completely obsessed with the thought of killing his brother. The moment he obtained the Mangekyou Sharingan, it drove him into the insanity that is his present self. For years on end, it tortured him. That's why he was always after Itachi. So that his brother could kill him, and end his pain. The Mangekyou wasn't a powerful blessing; it was a curse.

I chuckled to myself in such away that it felt like I might cry.

He had dropped me so many hints; given me so many clues. The only thing he hadn't done was say it.

I always wondered, ever since my friend took me to this place, why he had shared so much of his dreaded past. The scenes he projected with his words. From happy moments with his family, to the terrifying time of the Uchiha's ultimate demise.

'…_what have you done?' Itachi had whispered in seductive tones._

He had expressed such a look of hatred, his icy tone freezing my heart as he said the very words that Itachi had easily spoken not more than four years earlier. I hadn't understood why Itachi would say that, as if it hadn't been himself who murdered his family.

Oh, but it made sense now.

Itachi had been the pride of the Uchiha clan. No, not just the clan, the entire Leaf Village. Isolated and unloved, the lonely eight-year-old boy must have created an alternate personality out of his rage and sorrow.

And that very night, the night that still haunts my nightmares though I had not been there, while the real boy slept, **he** was awakened.

His alternate murdered everyone in sight with his newly developed Sharingan. And with each kill, the Mangekyou Sharingan grew stronger.

Once he had finished, he must have run off to the academy, erasing his real self's memories of the last however many hours so that he wouldn't be confused as to why he wasn't in his bed.

The real boy came back as the other malevolent boy disappeared into the black depths of his mind.

It explained the boy's fear at seeing everyone dead, their bodies strewn across the compound. Why he had thought it had been Itachi as he was the only one left, just having returned from an ANBU mission.

Of course, Itachi wasn't as innocent as this may prove. Itachi, after all, had left the village. Even if he hadn't had any choice in that matter, he joined the Akatsuki and had tried to kill myself and in the process, tried to take Kyuubi from me.

The Valley of the End. Strange how it all seemed to come back to that moment. Seeing everything in a new perspective, I can now differentiate from what I thought had happened, and what actually occurred.

He already had the Mangekyou when I had fought him; he just made himself forget…

... what he did...

…to do so…

He had left the village; using the excuse of Itachi and Orochimaru, because he had remembered what it was he did.

He had probably wondered for four years how he had obtained the Mangekyou, but keeping it to himself because somewhere deep inside, he knew.

And then Orochimaru came, placing a curse on him, and in the process, reawakening his alternate.

**The one I had fought that day was not my best friend, but rather, a malicious combination of the two persons in one body.**

The insanity that is my friend today is not the man I fell in love with, but the demon that feeds on fear and stalks my thoughts.

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Well, here is the second and probably last chapter to Memories of an Agonizing Truth, whose title I just thought of. If I get three or so people who would like me to make one last chapter, maybe a big fight and confession scene between Sasuke and Naruto, I will. Otherwise, this is it. I hope you enjoyed this fanfiction.

Akira-sama

Ja ne


	3. Those Eyes

Those Eyes

_-capturing me in their unnerving stare-_

Summary: Naruto and Sasuke fight for the last time. Naruto, rage consumed, ad yet filled with a burning passion meant only for Sasuke. Sasuke comes back for a reason. But it wasn't the reason Naruto had been hoping for.

Disclaimer: I do not own Naruto.

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_Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. _It's never-ending, this name. Resounding in my head. Memories. Of love, of hate. Revolving around this name. _Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke._

My love, my rival, my best friend, my worst enemy. I almost laughed at how cliché it all was.

"…Dobe…"

My mind went numb, my body grew cold. I looked up, not having realized I had fallen.

I don't think I'll ever be able to describe this feeling. This hate, this rage, and yet, this love.

"Sasuke…"

He looked the same as always. The silky onyx hair, spiked in the back, making it look good as only he could. His pale skin was as beautiful as ever. It seemed to just soak up the moonlight, leaving the compound in darkness.

He was still wearing that rather ridiculous outfit that he willingly wore after joining Orochimaru.

But it was those eyes of his that captured me. Those obsidian, dull eyes that still, after all these years, burned with a white-hot intensity only Sasuke could manage. They were like two starless chunks of night, ageless and endless and beautiful. And they pierced through me with enough intensity to make me gasp.

He didn't seem to notice, however, what effect he was having on me. He was in one of those moods, where he either wanted to kill me or torture himself.

His delicate hands reached toward his sword, and I pulled out a kunai on reflex. But he didn't even step toward me.

Ah, so he wasn't going to kill me.

He took the light piece of metal artistry, and made a diagonal line on the back of his arm. The crimson liquid fell in thick drops on the old cement.

Sasuke merely smirked, pulling back the sword. His eyes. They held the Sharingan in them, the three black commas spinning.

I fell again, hand against my mouth. This wasn't because he was using the Mangekyou on me, but rather, he was using it on himself.

This man. Oh, God, I must truly be an idiot to have not realized the length of his insanity.

I heard someone walk toward me, but I couldn't move. The image of Sasuke torturing his mind too much for me, because I knew. I knew he was hurting the real Sasuke.

A hand grabbed my chin roughly, forcing me to look up and into those eyes. Laughing, mocking, smirking. Those _eyes_.

He pulled me up and into a fighting position, before jumping a few feet away, settling into his own customary stance.

_Damn, he's going to try and kill me._

He stood there, never one to make the first move. So, taking my role, I charged at him.

He disappeared, and kicked me from behind, pulling out his sword once again, and driving it through my shoulder.

_So he wants to play dirty…_

A dark red chakra circled around me. Covering me; sheltering me. In case Sasuke tried any tricks.

But he stood there, allowing his curse marks to flash and run all over his body, casting him in shadows. And those eyes. Reduced to a mere plain black, with a sliver of pure gold where the iris would be.

Nine tails of pure chakra sprung up behind me, and two fox ears molded from the chakra, and appeared on top of my head.

At full power, we took or places, assumed our roles, and _danced_.

I cannot tell you how long we fought. Quiet, I remember. Peaceful and calm; unusual for battles.

We destroyed nothing of our surroundings, and yet, managed to slice through any unmarked skin shown to us.

It may have been hours, it may have been minutes, but at the end, we fell.

Next to each other, side by side, gasping for air deprived from our lungs.

I heard a strange gurgling, and tilted my head to the right so that I might get a better look at Sasuke.

There was blood dripping from his mouth, and running down his chin. And he was laughing through it. While the internal bleeding was slowly drowning him, he was chuckling.

And I realized why he came.

"You came to die."

It wasn't a question, merely a statement, but he nodded anyway, still laughing.

And my eyes closed. Images flashed beneath my eye lids and before my eyes. Memories of long ago. Of happier and simpler times.

The last image…The Valley at the End.

"I know…that you're not the real Sasuke."

"And you think the real one will come out?"

I laughed sadly. "No. You've destroyed his mind. But why, did you come out at all?"

I could almost feel his smirk.

"You mean at the Valley at the End. Because, he didn't want to hurt you. Something so new, that feeling. Love, you call it. Disgusting. I couldn't stand it anymore, so I tried to kill you. But he had enough strength to stop me. As he has every time we've fought. But you're dying anyway. Because you've lost the will to live in a world unwanted. Unloved and detested."

He laughed cruelly. "You're pathetic."

I growled. "I hope you burn in hell!"

He laughed. "Spoken like Itachi. I will, as will Sasuke. And you and Kyuubi. All ninjas in this world are demons. Hell's humans. Because we kill, without feeling. Without remorse. Without sorrow."

His voice was lowering, almost to a whisper.

"There is no next life for ninjas. And there's no afterlife for demons…like…us…"

I felt the tears rolling down my face as I heard his heart beat grow faint until, finally, it stopped.

"Sasuke. Sasuke. Sasuke. SASUKE!"

"Naruto? NARUTO!"

I heard Sakura's voice in the distance, but I couldn't concentrate on it. I could feel the last of my lifeblood flowing out of my body.

Those eyes of his are what kept me living. They're closed now forevermore. And I've lost my will.

_Death is such sweet sorrow._

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Alright so I hope this chapter was a good epilogue. As you can tell, this contained more angst than the other two. And I realize that some of it sucked. So I would appreciate any advice you may have on how to fix the opening and any other part you think could use some revising. Thank you to Madfrost and Ladyvadvader101.

Akira-sama

Ja ne


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